Positive Re-Inforcement

This is going to be used to hold treats for dog training.  I used a Blue Ribbon and took it completely apart and used the pieces.  I made it to go on belt. 
Positive reinforcement is a new way of dog training.  Training use to require that a strong forceful voice would reprimand the poor dog.  Now, when the dog just indicates that he is behaving correctly and he is given a treat.  The dog learns much faster and now every one is on better terms with each other.
The doggie bags that are available in the catalogs are very boring and since I like to improve on the "ugly", I did this.    But I did think that every one who might want me to make one for them will want Blue Ribbons.  And yet there are so many other beautiful colors, but with Dog Training, there is only BLUE.

I was at a dog show this weekend. It is called an Obedience Trial.
The photo on the left is the group (me on the far right) that I worked with.
The middle photo is of the "High Scoring Dog". Truly a beautiful site to see. The owner loves her dogs and the dogs seem want to please her and they always do their best.
The photo on the right is because I couldn't resist the face.
We had a successful day that finally ended at 6:00 at night. I was very "pooped".

The Last of the Dog Trial Purses

Since I made two purses for the Dog Trial with the rosettes from the award ribbons, I had the printed ribbons left over. I just couldn't throw these away. My feeling of using and not wasting kept gnawing at me. So, I decided to make this one the last. It has ribbons on the front and the back. I used the same web belting that I had used on the other one. The main trouble that I ran into is that the ribbons are very beautiful and lush when they are awarded, the fabric of the ribbons is very cheap. So I had to be very careful and exact when I sewed the ribbon. If I over sewed and then corrected by pulling out thread, it would show. Darn! But after coping with that and also allowing forgiveness on my part, I finished the purse.
The dog trial is next Saturday, so I will find out how well they are received!
This is the front of the fanny pack. The colors of the ribbons may not be familiar to you but they are

My Last Offer for the Dog Club

Since I had so many dog ribbons left over I decided to make another bag for the Dog Club Raffle. My darling niece gave me this Chenille fabric sample and the whole idea came to me whole.
I used the same fabric for the lining (the map fabric) that I had used in the first purse. I put elastic on the ends, just to give it a little more of a profile.
Altogether it was made fast and fun. I hope that the people, who come to the trial, will enjoy my efforts.

Dog Raffle Donation

I belong to a dog club. It is an American Kennel Club "recognized club". We have a trial every year. A trial is where people bring their dogs to show off their obedience abilities. It is a challenge to train dogs. And it takes a lot of time to do it right. I did train Frida and when we entered a trial someone set off a fire cracker and that ended our "trial" experience.
However, I like the people and really enjoy the dogs.
One of the ways that we make money at the trial is to have a raffle. We raffle off baskets of dog goodies, tickets to fast food restaurants, dog pillows and for the last two years, Pat Sieler's bag donations.
This is a fanny pack where the trainers can put treats to reward good behavior. The decorations are the rosettes that are from the ribbons that are awarded to the wonderful dogs. When I make the bags for the trial donation, I integrate dog ideas.
This one was fun to make.

During My Sabbatical

This is my Frida. My darling, wonderful Frida. She was named after Frida Kahlo. And now I can see that there are parallels to their lives.
We like to take walks together and view the neighborhood. She is very curious and adventurous. She will take me to areas that I have no desire to go and yet after the walk, I can see that it was worth it. We have long conversations and she does not hold back on her opinions but she is always kind about them.
Come tomorrow, it will be three weeks since the "Event" happened. We were almost home (two doors away) when she stumbled. After the stumble, she slowed down a lot. The next day she did not want to walk very far and the day after that the distance was shorter. The following day she would not get up. I am sure that the following will cause criticism but I really was doing all that could be done. Initially she was in the office (that is where the dogs sleep). But she decided that she had to go under the Bottle Brush bush. That is her favorite spot during warm months. She stopped eating. I could not persuade her come out and then the rains started. My son came over to help me move her and she tried to bite him. Frida would never bite anyone but she must have been in a lot of pain. So we put up a lot of tarps and tried to keep the rain off of her. On the worst day, I bailed buckets and buckets of water away from her. I put up rock dams to keep the water off her. Through all this travail I gave up hope. The light was fading from her eyes. I cried and pleaded and fed her by hand and squirted water into her mouth with a syringe. Finally I decided to sedate her (why I did'nt think of this before I do not know). My son came over and we got her back into the office. We arranged it like a hospital room. Three days later I walked into the office and she stood for me. I cried. She was very shaky but she stood. She made slow progress but it was progress. I celebrated till saturday last week. When I walked into the office I saw that she had two large holes in one leg. I couldn't think. I was so tired. It looked like it was very infected. I wasn't able to see it earlier because she wasn't moving easily. In the center of this huge crater was a white spot the size of a quarter. I called my son again and we finally were able to get her up to the vet. She is a big dog and weighs 86 pounds. It took a lot to just get her into the car.
The really, really good news is that it was a bed sore and he sewed her back together and she is making wonderful progress. We go for walks (slow walks) but she is up and happy again.
I feel like I have been in hell and am now forgiven!
My wonderful Frida!!

p.s. He still does not know what caused the whole thing in the first place.

Frida, My Darling Dog

This is my Frida when she was only 4 months old. I was going through my photos and came across this one. I sat there and laughed and cried all at the same time. Can you believe those ears. I do have to say that the ears were important to me. I wanted her ears to stand up. I went to the vet and he gave me Calcium tablets to make her ears stand up. And here is the final outcome. These ears are the same size as her face. Isn't it funny?

The Completion of a Promise

The American Kennel Club Trial that I participated in has been over for six weeks. I really didn't think that it would take this long to complete the winner of the raffle's purse. But it is surprising how much "Life" can intrude. First I needed the photos for the winner. Then we consulted about her desire to include her new "first" grandchild. Of course, I said "Yes". Then my printer said that I needed more black ink. That seemed reasonable since there is so much black in the photos. I ordered more. Then when the ink arrived, it wouldn't work. I called H-P and they graciously helped me with the problem. (Did you know that the ink jets get dirty?). Then a lot of normal life got in the way. Now it is finished. It is larger and has more pockets. The lining has photos sewn on as well.
This is the sample that she saw. I hope that she likes what I did. It will go out Monday.

The Dog Raffle

A long time ago, I read a post by Menofleur, and she left me with an idea that I knew I had to explore. Phyllis made a tribute wall hanging for a singer who had died to early. It was a lovely tribute but what impressed me and stayed with me is that she used a photo that was put on fabric. "Transfer paper". I knew about it but didn't realize that it was so accessible. So, when I volunteered to donate a purse for the AKC Dog Trial that the club has every year, I knew that in some way I was going to include this wonderful product "Transfer Paper".
In the club, there is this wonderful lady and she and her husband have Keeshonds. They are very beautiful and fluffy dogs. The coloring goes from light gray to almost black. I asked my friend for photos of the dogs and there began my adventure with "Transfer Paper". I wanted the photos to look like dropped postcards. The fabric is a bonded cotton. I chose brown because with dogs, everything gets dirty or smudged with dirt. One of the photos forms a pocket.
Now, I realized that the winner of the raffle may not have a Keeshond, so that means I have committed myself to making two purses for the dog raffle - one for my friend and won for the winner. But it is all for a good cause and an excuse for using "Transfer Paper"

Fate or The Angel vs. the Hound of Hades

I call this special creature "Angel of Heaven" but her earthly name is Penelope. She tells me that she is very delicate and upsets easily.
This strong looking fellow name is George Bernard Shaw or as the SPCA called him "Bruiser". I immediately changed it to a respectable name, one I would not be embarrassed in public to announce. Later, like one day after he came home with me,I found out that is a sweet darling of a dog. His main, major problem is that he likes to be with me. I say "problem" because he is always looking for me. When he knows where I am, he will relax and go to sleep.
My dogs are outside dogs and my cats are inside cats. Never the twain should meet!
However, sometimes, me as Fate intervenes. As this morning, ahem!!!
I walk my dogs because it is fun to go out with them and they love it. I cannot walk both because then I am outweighed almost double. They are big dogs and if they both decide to take the lead and I am holding the leash, I would have to go with them. If I walk one at a time, then it is fine, I am in control.
This morning my house door did not close all the way and I did not check it. I feel very bad about that and I promise to try harder.
When I was walking Frida, Mr Shaw pushed the door open and began to look for me. I was not there but the cats were. Oh, woe is me. Poor Angel of Heaven is terrified of dogs and she immediately disappears and so does Chester. I get back and realize my very big mistake. I get Shaw out of the house and start to look for the cats. Chester comes out right away but it took a lot of pleading and apologizing on my part for Penelope to appear. She was so upset that she wouldn't eat. I promised her Fancy Feast and that I would never, never let that happen again.

The Ribbon Purse

This is a throwaway photo of my well trained dog Frida laughing at one of my jokes. Frida also imitates me by going gray at a very early age. She is 10 now but she was only 1 1/2 years when she began going gray. I have thought of using a natural hair dye but really don't you think that that is just too much?

This little number I call my "Ribbon Purse". I always amuse myself with the esoteric names I come up with. This purse is made from woven ribbon. See what I mean, how basic can a person be? QED: it is a ribbon purse.
I found the ribbon at FIDM Scholarship store and my hands couldn't get rid of it. It was as if the ribbons had glue on it and once glomed onto, it would not let go. But once I got it home, I had to figure out how to use it. Once again, I used the on-the-go look of this pattern that I made a few months ago. The ribbon seemed to say "I am sport as well as spiffy!". It was very difficult to work with until I found a fixative. The threads pulled out very easily and I have put this purse down a number of times. I decided that it would not work as a purse because of the loose weave. I kept experimenting and found a good fixative and the purse looks like it has a future. The colors are a lot brighter and more intense than this photo.

Please Meet Shaw

I found a new friend for Frida. Frida doesn't know if she really, really wants this. Frida is a very friendly dog and adored Simon. And she has been lonely without a dog friend.

I went on line and looked for a friend. I found this fellow a few miles from me. I made an appointment to see him and then when I saw him, I realized that he really needed a home.

They told me that they found him on the streets. From the look of him, he had been on the street a long time. He is thin and needs weight. He must have been on the street during the summer months because the flies have eaten off the top of his ears. It is not pretty and because of that, I felt that he might have a hard time finding a home. Other than his ears, he is absolutely handsome. He has a potential of about 100 pounds but he is not that now. He is bigger than Frida but very thin. He will be fun to feed. He is not trained, so I will have to work on that as well.

So far, he is a love and Frida, I sure, will love him.

My Saturday Morning

I usually walk Frida early in the morning. She likes to walk as soon as I am willing to take her. Her muscles are building up. When Simon was still with us, I would split the walk in half, giving each their fair share. But since I now walk just Frida, she needed to stretch her muscles more. And I did too. One never knows how the break in between the both, to take leaches off and put them back on again, acted as a rest. We now have added to our walk. Frida so looks forward to it and I have found that I do too.
When I walked out the door this morning, this is what greeted me. This is a Canas and is a plant best suited to warmer climates like Los Angeles. I received this plant as a gift and this is the second flowering. I really enjoy the color and the brightness it offers.
On our walk, we go through homes, businesses and a mix of both on the same street. But this place seems to combine both in one place. I enjoy seeing how people personalize their buildings. I would say that these people must use the fenced-in area as a outdoor living space. It looks quite nice from the street. the color combination and angles.
Frida and I enjoyed our walk. Both of us are adapting to the absence of our sweet Simon.

The Dog Trial

This was a Dog Trial in the literal sense as well as the figurative sense. I belong to a small dog club. They schedule a yearly trial every August. This year's trial was August 8 and that is today. I did not want to participate but since there is such a small membership, I had to help. Last night I dreamt about how difficult it would be for me and how I found a way out of it. Wish fulfilment and cowardly. These people are my friends and they needed me to be there.

I had to work at the Rally table and I did the paper work. In Rally, where the dogs do a lot of different things all in one pass (such as sit, stay, down, jump over a "jump") the scoring is complex. The judge does the grading but I had to tally, put the time down, and also put down the losses. It was the first time doing it and it was a good distraction.

The above photo is someone preparing to go into the ring. This woman and her dog won second place.

The Parsons Terrier, the top photo, won first place and this dog won by only 5 seconds. It was pretty impressive. Aside from being the cutest dog that I saw today.

This shot is of people training and "going through the moves" one last time before they went into the ring.

That is how I spent my Saturday and Sweet Frida wanted to come with me but she stayed home.

Life in the Midst of......

I promise that this is not a rant but I miss my time when I don't sew. I have not had any time to proceed with my "book bag" for Lucy. And the hard part is that school is almost over. My work in the shop is all consuming and weekend time seems to be in the shop as well. However, last weekend we had a power surge and the phone line for the shop went out. It was blessedly silent. I had forgotten how nice it is not to anticipate the phone.

This morning I was thinking that sewing is an active sport. It is not like knitting, crocheting, or embroidery. I see those as a "put down when interrupted" craft. But for me, sewing is up, down, concentrate, don't interrupt me sport. Before I start sewing I need to get my thoughts together and see what the next step is and then take it. And the only way I can do that is to have time. That is a very precious commodity in my house.

These photos are from my daily walk. My dogs think that I take them for a walk but really I do it for me and they are my companions on the walk.

I tried taking both on a walk but the only time I did that Simon had an encounter (separated by a fence) with another large male. I could not control two large German Shepherds very easily and managed to drag myself back to a telephone pole and hung on till I could get verbal control over the dogs. It probably was very funny to watch but that ended the "two dog" walk.

The Jacaranda trees are now in bloom and they drop their petals all over and they are breathtakingly beautiful. When I look at the petals, the color fills my eyes and my mind. It is wonderful.